Sterling Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 53.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,608 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,191 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $412,445,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $136,794,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,829,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,695,319 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $127,149,000 after purchasing an additional 374,837 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,785,483 shares of the technology company's stock worth $137,036,000 after purchasing an additional 326,652 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of FTV traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,534,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,372,628. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $22.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.84. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $60.39 and a 52 week high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on FTV. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $81.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,793.32. This trade represents a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 over the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortive Profile

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries.